Challenges women employees face in training and development in technical oriented firms (the case of TTCL)

The aim of this study was to assess challenges that women employees face in training and development in technical oriented firms; the case being TTCL in Dar es Salaam, the commercial city of Tanzania. The existing problem is due to the poor management of employee' training needs analysis in Tanzania. Specifically the study aimed to investigate the attitude and problems facing women who undergo training in technical oriented firms. Then investigate the attitude of the firm management towards women training. The investigation focused on general knowledge of training and development, employees’ involvement in training and development, and the feed-back of the policy. Given the nature of the research problem, a qualitative research method, using purposive sampling was applied in the study. Questionnaires and interviews were used to collect primary data. Secondary data were obtained from TTCL journals, monthly reports and online sources. In order to achieve the specific objectives, self administered questionnaires were distributed to 50 respondents. Results showed that the attitude towards women going for training in technical oriented firms was positive, indicating that it was not a challenge and there was willingness to acquire new skills. The findings further revealed that isolation was the biggest challenge facing women, in addition to family and pregnancy issues. On the other hand, women believed that the solution to this problem is to focus on the needs of individual technical women on a personal and professional level. The attitude of the management towards women training in technical oriented firm was found to be negative. This finding has implications for gender capacity-building activities and development of specific training for women’s groups and networks, including national machineries for the advancement of women which is critical to successfully incorporating gender perspective in all areas of ICT and technical development. The findings of this study^urther suggest that firms need to arrange and adopt more effective training programs and techniques. The study concludes that if an organization invests in right type of employee training, it can enhance with changes fostered by technological innovation, market competition, organizational structuring and most importantly play a key role in enhancing employee performance.